Systems and Methods for Identifying Payment Accounts to Segments

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for use in identifying payment accounts to segments are provided. One exemplary method includes receiving a first indicator for a first location from a communication device, where the communication device is associated with a consumer and the consumer is associated with a payment account issued to the consumer by an issuer. The method also includes appending, by a computing device, the payment account to a first segment based on the first location indicator, and causing at least one rule associated with the payment account to be modified where the at least one rule relates to authorization of transactions in a first region including the first location.

FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for usein identifying payment accounts to segments, for example, based onlocations of consumers associated with the payment accounts, etc., andcausing, as necessary, usage rules for the payment accounts to bemodified based on such identification.

BACKGROUND

This section provides background information related to the presentdisclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

Merchants often offer products such as goods and services for sale toconsumers. The products may be purchased through a variety of differentmeans, including, for example, through payment accounts, etc. Thepayment accounts are known to be issued to the consumers by banks orother financial institutions, called issuers. Occasionally, the paymentaccounts are used by persons not associated with the payment accounts tomake unauthorized purchases. Issuers provide a variety of controls forpayment accounts to help limit or minimize the risks associated withsuch unauthorized use of the payment accounts. For example, fraudprotection rules are often applied to payment accounts to limitcumulative amounts of purchases to the payment accounts over givenperiods, or to require particular user authentications such assignatures, PINs, or biometrics, etc.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only ofselected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are notintended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system of the presentdisclosure suitable for use in identifying payment accounts to segments,and including one or more aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computing device that may be used in theexemplary system of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an exemplary method for identifying a payment account to asegment, which may be implemented in the system of FIG. 1.

Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings. The description and specific examplesincluded herein are intended for purposes of illustration only and arenot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Consumers use payment accounts to fund purchases of products such asgoods and services. Typically, the purchases are made using paymentdevices associated with the payment accounts. The payment accounts areoften associated with one or more rules, which impact the use of thepayment devices, depending on particular factors related to the productpurchases. For example, fraud rules may restrict the number of offlinetransactions that can be completed with payment devices of certaintypes. The rules can be set based, at least in part, on locations of theconsumers (i.e., the consumers' home addresses), numbers of purchasesmade by the consumers to their respective payment accounts, amounts ofpurchases made by the consumers to their respective payment accounts,types of purchases made by consumers, etc. The systems and methodsherein enable various aspects of consumers and/or their transactions(e.g., current locations of consumers, purchasing status of consumers,etc.) to be identified, and then append the consumers, and in particulartheir payment accounts, to certain segments based on the identification(e.g., based on the consumers' current locations, based on theconsumer's purchasing status, etc.). Then, based on the segmentsassociated with the payment accounts, one or more rules related to useof the payment accounts to complete future purchase transactions may bemodified. When the identified aspects relate to current locations of theconsumers, for example, the rules associated with their payment accountsmay be modified so that the payment accounts can be used in regionsother than the consumer's home region, based on their current locations(without raising flags suggesting fraudulent uses of the paymentaccounts).

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 in which one or more aspectsof the present disclosure may be implemented. Although parts of thesystem 100 are presented in one arrangement, it should be appreciatedthat other exemplary embodiments may include the same or different partsarranged otherwise, for example, depending on processing of paymenttransactions, communication between consumers and merchants, etc.

As shown in FIG. 1, the illustrated system 100 generally includesmerchants 102 a-b, an acquirer 104, a payment network 106, and an issuer108, each coupled to (and in communication with) network 110 (indicatedby dashed arrows). The network 110 may include, without limitation, awired and/or wireless network, a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN) (e.g., the Internet, etc.), a mobile network, and/oranother suitable public and/or private network capable of supportingcommunication among two or more of the illustrated parts of the system100, or any combination thereof. In one example, the network 110includes multiple networks, where different ones of the multiplenetworks are accessible to different ones of the illustrated parts inFIG. 1. In this example, the acquirer 104, the payment network 106, andthe issuer 108 may be connected via a private payment network that ispart of network 110 for processing payment transactions, and themerchants 102 a-b and consumer 112 may be connected through a publicnetwork, such as the Internet, that is also part of network 110.

The illustrated system 100 is distributed over three different regions:region A, region B and region C. However, such a distribution is notrequired in all embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition inthe system 100, the consumer 112 is illustrated in four differentlocations in the system 100, at four different times, i.e., at times(a)-(d), thereby representing the movement of the consumer 112 withinand between the different regions A-C over time. Specifically in thesystem 100, at time (a) the consumer 112 is located in region A; at time(b) the consumer 112 is located in region B, at time (c) the consumer112 is located in region C near merchant 102 b; and at time (d) theconsumer 112 is still located in region C, but apart from merchant 102b.

The consumer 112 is associated with a payment account (and correspondingpayment device) issued by the issuer 108 and registered to the paymentnetwork 106, for example, to utilize, through the issuer 108, one ormore services available from the payment network 106. The servicesavailable from the payment network 106 to the consumer 112 may includeany suitable services such as, for example, fraud protection services,bill payment services, electronic wallet services (e.g., PayPass® fromMasterCard, Apple Pay® from Apple, PayWave® from Visa, etc.) tofacilitate or permit purchase transactions to the consumer's paymentaccount, etc.

The consumer 112 is also associated with a communication device 114,which is coupled to the network 110. As shown in FIG. 1, thecommunication device 114 is associated with the consumer 112 at each ofthe different times (a)-(d) in the system 100. The communication device114, often a portable communication device such as smartphone or tablet,is voluntarily identified by consumer 112 (e.g., upon a promptedrequest, etc.), for example, in connection with the registration of theconsumer 112 to the payment account issued to the consumer 112 by theissuer 108. In this manner, the communication device 114 may enable, forthe consumer 112, the various services provided by, or through, thepayment network 106.

Regardless of what services are provided to the consumer 112 by thepayment network 106, the communication device 114, as part of anotherservice, or as part of a standalone service, is also configured togenerate a location indicator (reflecting a current location of thecommunication device 114) and to transmit the indicator to the paymentnetwork 106, as desired. The location indicator may include, forexample, a street address, a postal code, a country code, alongitude/latitude, or other information indicative of the current (orpast) location of the communication device 114 at a particulargranularity, if or as desired. In some embodiments, for example, aprecise location may be preferred while, in other embodiments, a moregeneral location may be acceptable (e.g., postal code, etc.). It shouldbe appreciated that the location indicator may be used other thandescribed herein, and that such other service(s) may determine thegranularity of the location indicator. Conversely, the communicationdevice 114, itself, may be limited in the type and/or precision oflocation indictors it is able to generate and/or transmit.

The communication device 114 may transmit the location indicator at oneor more regular or irregular intervals, or in response to an event suchas, for example, movement of the communication device 114 greater than apredefined distance, power cycle of the communication device 114, entryof the communication device 114 into or exit of the communication device114 from (or other modification of) one or more modes (e.g., airplanemode, etc.), etc. Any predefined distance, when used herein, may bebased on a home location of the payment account associated with thecommunication device 114 (e.g., the address associated with the paymentaccount such as the home address of the consumer, etc.). In general,events and/or intervals used in transmitting the location indicator bythe communication device 114 may include any event and/or interval atleast suitable to identify or generally represent movement of thecommunication device 114, and the consumer 112, between different onesof the regions A-C or within the regions A-C of the system 100, whetherimmediately (in real time), or within a certain period of time.

While only one consumer 112 (in different locations at different times(a)-(d)) and only three regions A-C are illustrated in FIG. 1, is shouldbe appreciated that any number of consumers and/or regions may beincluded, or utilized, in other embodiments. Likewise, a differentnumber of merchants, acquirers, payment networks, and/or issuer may beincluded in other system embodiments.

Generally in the system 100, the merchants 102 a-b, the acquirer 104,the payment network 106, and the issuer 108 cooperate, in response tothe consumer 112 (e.g., a purchase by the consumer 112, etc.), tocomplete a purchase transaction. In the exemplary embodiment, theconsumer 112 initiates the transaction by presenting a payment device,such as a credit card, a debit card, a pre-paid card, a payment token, apayment tag, a pass, another device such as communication device 114that can be used to provide an account number (e.g., a mobile phone, atablet, etc.), etc., to the merchant 102 a, for example, in thefollowing description.

In the purchase transaction by the consumer 112, for example, themerchant 102 a reads the payment device (associated with the paymentaccount issued to the consumer 112 by the issuer 108) and communicates apayment instrument identifier (e.g., an account number, etc.) and anamount of the purchase to the acquirer 104 associated with the merchant102 a, through the network 110, to determine if the payment account isin good standing and if there is sufficient credit/funds to complete thetransaction. The acquirer 104, in turn, communicates with the issuer108, through the payment network 106, via the network 110, forauthorization for the transaction. If the issuer 108 accepts thetransaction, an authorization is provided back to the merchant 102 a andthe merchant 102 a completes the transaction. The credit line or fundsof the consumer 112, depending on the type of payment account, is thendecreased by the amount of the purchase, and the charge is posted to thepayment account associated with the payment device. The transaction islater cleared and settled by and between the merchant 102 a and theacquirer 104 (in accordance with a settlement arrangement, etc.), and byand between the acquirer 104 and the issuer 108 (in accordance withanother settlement arrangement, etc.).

In connection with accepting the purchase transaction from the acquirer104, the issuer 108 may employ a variety of rules related to theconsumer's payment account, as provided by the payment network 106, forexample, to determine whether to authorize or decline the transaction.For example, the issuer 108 may require the purchase to originate from acertain geographic region (e.g., associated with the consumers' homeaddress, etc.), or the issuer 108 may limit the consumer 112 to aparticular number of transactions within a specified interval, to amaximum purchase amount, to a particular number of permitted off-lineEMV purchases between on-line purchases, etc. In addition, the issuer108 may set a ceiling of total spend allowed offline for the paymentdevice associated with the consumer's payment account before the paymentdevice must come online, or the issuer 108 may set a limit on a numberof offline transactions allowed before the payment device must comeonline. Further, the issuer 108 may require a point-of-sale terminalbeing used in a transaction to be within a predefined distance of a lastknown location for the consumer's communication device 114 (where thepredefined distance may vary depending on how recent location data isfor the communication device 114 (e.g., the predefined distance may begreater for older last-known location data, etc.). Moreover, when theconsumer's payment device includes an offline chip card, it may containa currency conversion table for use in determining a total spend allowedoffline, when the merchant currency is of a different type than theconsumer's payment account currency. A location of the consumer 112,based on location data for the consumer's communication device 114, forexample, may then be used to trigger an update of the currency tablewhen the consumer 112 enters a new currency region, etc.

Transaction data is generated, collected, and stored as part of theabove interactions among the merchant 102 a, the acquirer 104, thepayment network 106, the issuer 108, and the consumer 112. Thetransaction data represents at least a plurality of transactions, e.g.,completed transactions, attempted transactions, etc. The transactiondata, in this exemplary embodiment, is stored at least by the paymentnetwork 106 (e.g., in a data structure associated with the paymentnetwork 106, etc.). Additionally, or alternatively, the merchant 102 a,the acquirer 104, and/or the issuer 108 may store the transaction data,or part thereof, in a data structure. Further, transaction data may betransmitted between entities of system 100, as used or needed. Thetransaction data includes, for example, amounts of transactions,merchant IDs, merchant category codes, dates/times of transactions,products purchased and related descriptions or identifiers, productreturns/refunds, etc. It should be appreciated that more or lessinformation related to transactions, as part of either authorizationand/or clearing and/or settling, may be included in transaction data andstored within the system 100, at the merchant 102 a, the acquirer 104,the payment network 106, and/or the issuer 108.

In various exemplary embodiments, consumers (e.g., consumer 112, etc.)involved in the different transactions herein are prompted to agree tolegal terms associated with their payment accounts, for example, duringenrollment in their accounts, etc. In so doing, the consumers mayvoluntarily agree, for example, to allow merchants, issuers of thepayment accounts, payment networks, etc., to use data collected duringenrollment and/or collected in connection with processing thetransactions, subsequently for one or more of the different purposesdescribed herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary computing device 200 suitable for use inthe system 100. By way of example (and without limitation), theexemplary computing device 200 may include one or more servers,workstations, personal computers, laptops, tablets, PDAs, telephones(e.g., cellular phones, smartphones, other phones, etc.), other suitablecomputing devices, combinations thereof, etc. as appropriate. In thesystem 100 of FIG. 1, the merchants 102 a-b, the acquirer 104, thepayment network 106, and the issuer 108 are each associated with, orimplemented in, computing device 200 coupled to network 110. Inaddition, the communication device 114 associated with the consumer 112is also consistent with computing device 200. In addition, the computingdevice 200 may include a single computing device, or it may includemultiple computing devices located in close proximity, or multiplecomputing devices distributed over a geographic region, so long as thecomputing devices are specifically configured to function as describedherein. However, the system 100 should not be considered to be limitedto the computing device 200, as described below, as different computingdevices and/or arrangements of computing devices may be used. Inaddition, different components and/or arrangements of components may beused in other computing devices. Additionally, each computing device 200illustrated in the system 100 may be coupled to a network (e.g., theInternet, an intranet, a private or public LAN, WAN, mobile network,telecommunication networks, combinations thereof, or other suitablenetwork, etc.) that is either part of the network 110, or separatetherefrom.

With reference to FIG. 2, the illustrated computing device 200 generallyincludes a processor 202, and a memory 204 that is coupled to (and incommunication with) the processor 202. The processor 202 may include,without limitation, one or more processing units (e.g., in a multi-coreconfiguration, etc.), including a general purpose central processingunit (CPU), a microcontroller, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC)processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), aprogrammable logic circuit (PLC), a gate array, and/or any other circuitor processor capable of the functions described herein. The aboveexamples are exemplary only, and are not intended to limit in any waythe definition and/or meaning of processor.

The memory 204, as described herein, is one or more devices that enableinformation, such as executable instructions and/or other data, to bestored and retrieved. The memory 204 may include one or morecomputer-readable media, such as, without limitation, dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read onlymemory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), solidstate devices, CD-ROMs, thumb drives, tapes, flash drives, hard disks,and/or any other type of volatile or nonvolatile physical or tangiblecomputer-readable media. The memory 204, and/or data structures includedtherein, may be configured to store, without limitation, data related topayment accounts, transaction data for transactions processed to thepayment accounts, segments of payment accounts by region, rules onpayment accounts, location indicators, and/or any other types of datasuitable for use as described herein, etc. Furthermore, in variousembodiments, computer-executable instructions may be stored in thememory 204 for execution by the processor 202 to cause the processor 202to perform one or more of the functions described herein, such that thememory 204 is a physical, tangible, and non-transitory computer-readablestorage media. It should be appreciated that the memory 204 may includea variety of different memories, each implemented in one or more of thefunctions or processes described herein.

The illustrated computing device 200 also includes a presentation unit206 that is coupled to (and in communication with) the processor 202.The presentation unit 206 outputs, or presents, to a user (e.g.,consumer 112 in the system 100; individuals associated with one or moreof the merchants 102 a-b, the acquirer 104, the payment network 106, andthe issuer 108 in the system 100; etc.) by, for example, displaying,and/or otherwise outputting information and/or data. It should befurther appreciated that, in some embodiments, the presentation unit 206comprises a display device such that various interfaces (e.g.,applications, webpages, etc.) may be displayed at computing device 200,and in particular at the display device, to display such information anddata, etc. And in some examples, the computing device 200 may cause theinterfaces to be displayed at a display device of another computingdevice, including, for example, a server hosting a website havingmultiple webpages, etc. With that said, the presentation unit 206 mayinclude, without limitation, a liquid crystal display (LCD), alight-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic LED (OLED) display, an“electronic ink” display, speakers, combinations thereof, etc. In someembodiments, the presentation unit 206 includes multiple units.

The computing device 200 further includes an input device 208 thatreceives input from the user of the computing device 200. The inputdevice 208 is coupled to (and in communication with) the processor 202and may include, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device, a mouse, astylus, a touch sensitive panel (e.g., a touch pad or a touch screen,etc.), another computing device, and/or an audio input device. Further,in some exemplary embodiments, a touch screen, such as that included ina tablet, a smartphone, or similar device, behaves as both apresentation unit and an input device. In at least one exemplaryembodiment, a presentation unit and/or an input device are omitted froma computing device.

In addition, the illustrated computing device 200 includes a networkinterface 210 coupled to (and in communication with) the processor 202(and, in some embodiments, to the memory 204 as well). The networkinterface 210 may include, without limitation, a wired network adapter,a wireless network adapter, a mobile telecommunications adapter, orother device capable of communicating to one or more different networks,including the network 110. In multiple embodiments herein, the networkinterface includes a GPS antenna, suitable to capture GPS signals forprocessing by the processor 202, to determine the location of thecomputing device 200 (e.g., in connection with communication device 114,etc.). In one or more embodiments, the computing device 200 relies onadditional or other network signals via network interface 210 todetermine its location. Any suitable operations to determine locations,by processors, based on GPS signals (or other network signals) may beused. Further, in some exemplary embodiments, the computing device 200includes the processor 202 and one or more network interfacesincorporated into or with the processor 202.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the system 100, and in particular the issuer108, includes an engine 116, which is configured, often by executableinstructions, to cause a processor (e.g., processor 202, etc.), forexample, to perform multiple operations as described herein. The engine116 generally includes a computing device, which, in this embodiment, isconsistent with computing device 200. While the engine 116 isillustrated as incorporated in (or associated with) the issuer 108 (asindicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 1), it should be appreciated thatthe engine 116 may be incorporated in (or associated with) one or moredifferent parts of system 100, such as the payment network 106, or otherparts of alternate systems not shown, or the engine 116 may be astandalone part in other system embodiments.

In some aspects of the system 100, the engine 116 (operating as alocation engine) is configured to receive the location indicator for theconsumer 112, from the communication device 114, via network 110(directly, or indirectly). When the received location indicator isindicative of a current location in a particular one (or more) of theregions A-C (different from a last region in which the communicationdevice 114 was present), the engine 116 (in connection with the issuer108) appends the payment account, associated with the consumer 112 (andthe communication device 114), to a segment associated with theparticular region in which the communication device 114 is currentlypresent (assuming the payment account is not already appended to thesegment). The engine 116 is configured, then, to provide a notificationto the issuer 108 associated with the consumer's payment account (e.g.,in real time, in near real time, later, etc.). The issuer 108, inresponse, modifies, as appropriate, one or more rules (e.g.,restrictions, etc.) associated with usage of the payment account in thecurrent region(s). For example, the issuer 108 may reduce or increasefraud protection measures based on the current region(s) for theconsumer 112 (e.g., the issuer may modify a number of offlinetransactions permitted for the consumer's payment account and associatedpayment device, a spending limit for the consumer's payment account, aspending threshold for the consumer's payment account, etc.). The issuer108 may modify the one or more rules based on the payment account beingappended to the particular segment. Or, the issuer 108 may modify theone or more rules only when the particular segment (to which the paymentaccount is appended) satisfies certain criteria (e.g., is a particularsegment, etc.), or when a particular location of the consumer 112satisfies certain criteria (e.g., when the consumer is in a particularregion, etc.).

When an additional, or further, location indicator is received from theconsumer's communication device 114 indicating, for example, that theconsumer 112 (specifically, the consumer's communication device 114) hasmoved to a different one of the regions A-C or to a different locationwithin one of the regions A-C, the engine 116 further appends theconsumer's payment account to a segment associated with the region, orlocation therein, in which the additional location exits, and so on andso forth for additional location indicators. One or more additionalrules associated with usage of the payment may then also be modified,either automatically based on the payment account being appended to thefurther segment(s) or based on the further segment(s) satisfying certaincriteria or the consumer 112 being in a particular location, etc.

Also, the engine 116 may remove the consumer's payment account from asegment to which it has already been appended based on a variety ofconditions. For example, a payment account may be limited to two, threeor four, etc., segments at one time, thereby removing the first in timeone of the currently appended segments when appending a new segment. Inanother example, the engine 116 may remove segments when no furtherlocation indicator, or transaction activity, in the regions associatedwith the segments is received from the communication device 114 within apredefined period of time of a last location data receipt (e.g., within3 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 3 days, 5 days, 7 days, etc.).Other conditions may relate, for example, to the transaction activityfor the payment account in the region associated with the consumer 112,etc. In such cases, the engine 116 may also then notify the issuer 108that the consumer's payment account has been removed from the particularsegment.

Additionally, or alternatively, in other aspects of the system 100, theengine 116 is configured to access transaction data for the consumer 112and the consumer's payment account, for example, from the paymentnetwork 106, etc. The engine 116 is then configured to use variousaspects of the transaction data to assign the consumer's payment accountto particular segments (e.g., as a criteria for appending the paymentaccount to one or more segments, as a criteria for modifying one or morerules associated with the payment account, etc.). When a number of totaltransactions for the consumer's payment account and/or when a totalspend for the consumer's payment account reaches predefined thresholds,within a specified interval, (e.g., 25 total transactions within thelast 30 days, total spend of $4,000.00 within the last 60 days, otherthresholds configured by the issuer 108, etc.), the engine 116 appendsthe payment account to a particular segment associated with thepredefined threshold, for example, a frequent transactor segment, a highspender segment, etc. Or, when the consumer 112 performs transactions atone or more particular merchants (e.g., at merchant 102 a, etc.) or oneor more particular category of merchants (e.g., transportation-basedmerchants, etc.), the engine 116 may append the consumer's paymentaccount to a particular segment associated with one or more merchants,for example, a merchant 102 a segment, etc. The engine 116 isconfigured, then, to provide a notification to the issuer 108 (e.g., inreal time, in near real time, later, etc.). The issuer 108, in response,modifies, as appropriate, one or more rules (e.g., restrictions,marketing efforts, etc.) associated with usage of the payment account.For example, the issuer 108 may reduce or increase fraud protectionmeasures based on the resulting segment (e.g., relating to number ofoffline transactions permitted for payment devices, spending limits,spending thresholds, etc.). Also for example, the issuer 108 may makespecial offers to the consumer 112 based on the resulting segment. Theissuer 108 may modify the one or more rules based on the payment accountbeing appended to the particular segment. Or, the issuer 108 may modifythe one or more rules only when the particular segment (to which thepayment account is appended) satisfies certain criteria (e.g., is aparticular segment, etc.) or when the transaction data satisfies certaincriteria (e.g., when a number of total transactions for the consumer'spayment account and/or when a total spend for the consumer's paymentaccount reaches predefined thresholds, etc.), or when a particularlocation of the consumer 112 satisfies certain criteria (e.g., when theconsumer is in a particular region, etc.).

Moreover, and as previously described, the engine 116 may remove theconsumer's payment account from segments to which it has already beenappended, for example, if the consumer 112, and particularly theconsumer's payment account, fails to satisfy the various predefinedthresholds associated with the segments, such as minimum transactionsand minimum spend, in a next specified interval, or during a continuousinterval (e.g., last 30 days, etc.). The engine 116 may again alsonotify the issuer 108 that the consumer's payment account has beenremoved from the particular segment. When the consumer 112 is removedfrom one of the segments, the issuer 108 may then make alternativeoffers to the consumer 112 to attempt to regain higher usage of thepayment account.

FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary method 300 for use in identifying paymentaccounts to segments. The exemplary method 300 is described asimplemented in the engine 116 of the system 100 with it understood thatthe engine 116 is suitable for performing one or more of the variousoperations described with reference to the method 300. However, themethod 300 could be implemented in (or in connection with) one or moreother entities, in other embodiments. Further, reference is also made toother parts of the system 100 and the computing device 200. The methodsherein, however, should not be understood to be limited to the exemplarysystem 100, or the exemplary computing device 200. Likewise, the systemsand the computing devices herein should not be understood to be limitedto the exemplary method 300.

At 302 in the method 300, the engine 116 receives a location indicatorrelating to the consumer 112. The indicator is received by the engine116 from the consumer's communication device 114, which may be in realtime or near real time in various embodiments (often after occurrence ofan event), or at one or more regular of irregular intervals in otherembodiments. The location indicator generally is transmitted, by thecommunication device 114, when the consumer 112 moves from one of theregions A-C in the system 100 to another one of the regions A-C, or whenthe consumer 112 moves within one of the regions A-C. For example, attime (a) in the system 100, the engine 116 may receive a first locationindicator identifying the consumer 112 in region A. At time (b), theengine 118 may receive a second location indicator identifying theconsumer 112 in region B. At time (c), the engine 118 may receive athird location indicator identifying the consumer 112 in region C. Attime (d), the engine 118 may receive a fourth location indicatoridentifying the consumer 112 at a new location in region C. As indicatedabove, the location indicator may be transmitted, by the communicationdevice 114, at one or more regular or irregular intervals (e.g., everyhour, every 5 hours, every 24 hours, etc.), or in response to an eventsuch as, for example, movement of the communication device 114 greaterthan a predefined distance (e.g., 1,000 meters (potentially depending onthe region), etc.), power cycle of the communication device 114,changing modes (e.g., into or out of airplane mode, etc.) ofcommunication device 114, etc. However, it should again be appreciatedthat the present disclosure is not limited to use of location indicatorsto assign payment accounts to segments, as other criteria may be used(as described herein).

Upon receiving the location indicator, the engine 116 then appends theconsumer's payment account to a segment associated with the locationindicator, at 304. In various embodiments, the segments, or regionsegments, are segregated by state, postal code, country, etc. Thepayment network 106 may include a segment for each country, or group ofcountries, in Europe, for example. Or, the segregation of regions intodifferent segments may be restriction or rule based, rather thangeography based. For example, Mexico and France may be associated withthe same region, because certain rules related to the use of paymentaccounts may be similar in these countries, thereby ignoring thedisparate locations of the countries. In at least one embodiment,though, each segment is specific at least to a county, such that no twodifferent countries are associated with a single segment.

In some embodiments, use of regions as a basis for payment accountsegmentation may facilitate powering particular EMV scripts for offlinecontrols that can be used to help inhibit fraud. For example, when theconsumer 112 is traveling through several different regions in a shortperiod, and the consumer's payment account is appended to a segmentcomprising a broad compilation of the several different regions throughwhich the consumer 112 is traveling (e.g., based on receipt of multipledifferent location indicators over a short period of time, etc.), thesegment may include one or more rules that dictate generally relaxedfraud controls for the consumer 112 during the travel (e.g., so that thefraud controls take into account the travel to the various differentregions, etc.). The rules associated with the segment may then beactivated immediately, upon the payment account being appended to theparticular segment, or later when certain criteria are satisfied (e.g.,relating to the consumer's payment account, relating to the consume(e.g., the consumer's location, etc.), etc.).

In other embodiments, the segments may be segregated based on data otherthan location data, for example, transaction type, merchant type, orparticular merchant involved in a transactions, instead of consumerlocation. For example, when the consumer 112 performs a transaction at atravel-based merchant in an amount high enough to look like a travelfare, the engine 116 may receive an indicator of such transaction (e.g.,at 302 in method 300, etc.) and append (e.g., at 304 in method 300,etc.) the consumer's payment account to a travel segment that accountsfor travel through various different regions in a generally short periodof time (e.g., so that the fraud controls take into account the travelto the various different regions, etc.). Or, when the consumer 112performs a transaction at Home Improvement Store, the engine 116 mayappend the consumer's payment account to a segment that providesmarketing offers for various home products. Then, certain rulesassociated with the payment account relating to marketing may beimplemented and/or modified, while other rules remain unchanged (and/ornot invoked because of the particular segment to which the paymentaccount is appended).

In connection with appending the consumer's payment account to a segmentassociated with the location indicator, the controls or rules associatedwith the segment may either take effect immediately or they may bedelayed (e.g., until certain criteria are satisfied, depending onsubsequent approval, etc.). In some aspects, the engine 116 mayautomatically append the consumer's payment account to the segment suchthat the controls or rules associated with the segment take effectimmediately. However, in other aspects, the engine 116 may transmit aconfirmation to one more different entities before the controls or rulesassociated with the segment take effect. As an example, the engine 116may transmit a confirmation to the consumer 112 indicating that theconsumer's payment account has been appended to the segment andrequesting the consumer 112 to either accept or reject the segment(e.g., via an email message, SMS message, etc., such as, withoutlimitation, “We see you have made a purchase that indicates possible EUtravel. Would you like to be assigned to a Broader EU Travel Segment?”).As another example, the engine 116 may transmit a notification to theissuer 108 requesting approval to append the consumer's payment accountto the segment (e.g., a VIP segment based on purchase and/or travelhistory, etc.) and/or additional restrictions for the segment (e.g.,date of expiration, etc.).

Once the payment account is appended to the desired segment, the engine116 causes at least one rule, related to the payment account, to bemodified, at 306. Again, this action may take place immediately, or itmay be delayed when one or more confirmations and/or responses arerequired, or until one or more certain criteria relating to the paymentaccount, the consumer 112, the segment, etc. are satisfied (e.g., totalspend, total transactions, location requirements, etc.). In any case,because different regions are often associated with different security,infrastructure, accessibility of computing devices, networks, etc.,processing purchase transactions to payment accounts in differentregions may be done differently. As such, one or more different rulesmay be implicated to reduce and/or inhibit fraudulent transactions to apayment account, in different regions, while still enabling consumer 112to fund purchases using his/her payment account. The rules may beassociated with the new segment to which the consumer's payment accountis appended, or to one or more other segments to which the consumer'spayment account was previously appended.

For example, in system 100, region A may have less stable networkinfrastructure, or may be a region in which purchase transactions usingpayment devices are less common or in which point of sale (POS)terminals that perform online EMV transaction may be more sparse. A rulethat permits a certain number of offline EMV transactions between onlineEMV transactions may thus be different in region A than in region B, forexample, with prevalent online POS terminals. As such, when the consumer112 is in region A, at time (a), and the consumer's payment account isappended to a segment associated with region A (or to a segment that hasa certain rule relating to region A that is only modified when theconsumer 112 is identified as being in region A), a script may beinitiated, by the engine 116 (directly or indirectly), by which thepayment device associated with the consumer's payment account isconfigured to permit 10 off-line EMV transactions in a row, rather thanjust 3 off-line EMV transactions.

In another example, in system 100, the consumer's home address may be inregion A. When the consumer travels out of region A, to region C at time(c), the issuer 108 may initially decline any transactions made by theconsumer 112 at the merchant 102 b based on a rule (potentiallyassociated with the consumer's payment account being appended to asegment associated with region A) restricting such transactions when theconsumer 112 is in a different region, regardless of the proximity ofthe different region to region A. Consistent with the descriptionherein, though, upon the consumer's payment account being appended witha segment associated with region C, the issuer 108 then permitstransactions to the consumer's payment account in region C, for example,at merchant 102 b. For example, the rule restricting such transactions,which is associated with the consumer's payment account being appendedto a segment associated with region A, may be modified based on furtherappending the consumer's payment account to the segment associated withregion C (or simply based on a criteria that the consumer 112 be presentin region C, as part of the consumer's payment account being appended toanother segment). In addition, a new rule may be activated providingoffers to the consumer 112 for merchants in region C, such as merchant102 b.

It should be appreciated that various different rules may be implicatedby the verification of the consumer 112 in a region, other than theconsumer's home region, and/or assignment of the consumer 112 to aparticular segment. Some of the rules may be directed to fraudprevention, while others may be related to business generation such asrewards, marketing efforts, product offers, etc. For example, uponlanding at an airport in a particular country, the consumer 112 may beassignment to a travel segment having a rule associated therewith thatcauses an offer to be transmitted to the consumer 112 for a particularground transport service at the airport. Then, upon returning to anairport in a home region for the consumer 112, the corresponding homesegment of the consumer 112 may unwind any previously assigned fraudimpacting travel segments and cause a pizza offer to be transmitted tothe consumer 112 (since the consumer may be too tired from travel tocook). Still other rules may be directed to reminders for the consumer112 to load funds to a payment account or to use a particular paymentaccount in certain instances. For example, for a multi-currency prepaidtravel card product, the engine 116 might send a reminder to theconsumer 112 to load or use that card while traveling in one of thesupported currency countries if the card is not used within four hoursof arrival in one of the countries (e.g., upon assignment of theconsumer 112 to a particular travel segment involving one of thecountries, etc.). What's more, it should be appreciated that the variousrules may be implicated and/or modified based on the consumer's paymentaccount being appended to a particular segment, or based on theconsumer's payment account (and/or the consumer) satisfying one or morepredefined criteria (e.g., spend criterial, location criteria, etc.).

With continued reference to FIG. 3, the engine 116 also provides variousoperations relating to rule modifications for lingering payment accountsappended to various segments, for example, after the consumer 112 hasreturned to his/her home region after traveling to different regions, orafter the consumer moves to a new home region. For example, the engine116 may assign the consumer's payment account to a Relocation segmentwhen the consumer 112 updates his/her address with the issuer 108. Inthis segment, rules may then relate to marketing efforts (e.g., homeimprovement offers, etc.), to modified location-based fraud controls fora time period (to accommodate for the relocation), etc.

At 308 in the method 300, the engine 116 initiates an interval, afterreceiving the location indicator from the communication device 114 (orother indicator) relating to a particular segment, or at other timesindependent of receiving the location indicator. The interval mayinclude any suitable interval such as, for example, 8 hours, 24 hours, 1week, etc., and the interval may be reinitiated or restarted uponreceipt of further location indicators from the communication device114, from within the region, or at scheduled times. The engine 116 thendetermines, at 310, if the interval for the particular segment isexpired and, when the interval is expired, removes the payment accountfrom the segment at 312. Otherwise, the interval is reset.

As an example, in system 100, at time (c), the consumer's communicationdevice 114 transmits a location indicator for a location within region Cto the engine 116. In turn, the engine 116 appends the consumer'spayment account to a segment associated with region C. At about the sametime, an interval is initiated by engine 116 that is 10 hours induration. In this example, six hours later, at time (d), thecommunication device 114 transmits another location indicator to theengine 116 indicative of a new location within region C. Upon receipt ofthe subsequent location indicator, at time (d), the engine 116 resetsthe 10-hour interval. As the consumer 112 further travels/moves withinregion C, the interval is continually reset in this manner, therebypreserving any rules associated with the consumer's payment accountbeing appended to the segment associated with region C, and inhibitingmodification of such rules. When the consumer 112 leaves region C, andenters region B, for example, no further location indicators indicatingregion C will be transmitted by the communication device 114. In turn,the engine 116 determines that the interval is expired after the 10-hourduration, and then removes the payment account from the segment.

Further in the method 300, the engine 116 limits the number of segmentsin which the consumer's payment account may be appended based onlocation. However, such limitations are not required in all embodiments,and/or different limitations may be used (e.g., limitations based ontotal segments (and not just location-based segments), limitations basedon segments assigned by criteria other than location, etc.).

For example, at 314, after appending the payment account to a segment,the engine 116 determines if the number of total segments to which thepayment account is appended exceeds a predefined threshold number “X.”The threshold number “X” may include any suitable number such as, forexample, 3, 7, 15, etc. In various embodiments, the threshold is basedon a propensity of the consumer 112 to travel between different regions.For example, when the U.S. is encompassed in one region and a consumerresides in Missouri, a need for the consumer's payment account to beappended to multiple regions may be limited, as compared to a consumerliving in Europe in which each country defines one or multiple regions,where the consumer may travel between three or five regions in one day.As should be appreciated, the threshold may be selected based on avariety of factors related to, for example, the consumer 112, theconsumer's propensity to travel (business or personal), proximity of theconsumer's home region to other regions, etc.

When the total segments to which the consumer's payment account isappended exceeds the predefined threshold, the engine 116 then removesthe payment account from one of the segments at 316. In general, theengine 116 will remove the payment account from the first enteredsegment, or oldest segment. One exception to this removal, in one ormore embodiments, may be to preserve the payment account in a segmentassociated with the consumer's home address (i.e., a default segment),whereby the second oldest segment would then be removed, at 316.

In another aspect of the method 300, the engine 116 determines, at 318,if any transactions have occurred in the region, associated with thesegment to which the consumer's payment account is appended at 304,since receiving the indicator and/or since appending the payment accountto the segment. When no transactions are attempted by the consumer 112in the region using the payment account, within a predefined interval(which is similar to the intervals described above), the engine 116removes the payment account from the segment associated with region, at320. Otherwise, the engine 116 repeats the determination at 318 forsubsequent intervals.

Optionally in the method 300 (as indicated by the dashed lines in FIG.3), when no transactions are attempted by the consumer 112 in thepayment account, the engine 116 may also notify the issuer 108 of thepayment account of the lack of transactions, at 322. In turn, the issuer108 may present one or more offers to the consumer 112 to attempt toencourage the consumer 112 to perform further transactions, or theissuer 108 may contact the consumer 112 to determine if the consumer 112is having issues with use of the payment account or, specifically, thepayment device in the region. In at least one embodiment, the engine 116notifies the issuer 108 after a first predefined interval (e.g., afterfive hours, etc.), and then removes the payment account from the segmentassociated with the region after a second predefined interval (e.g.,after 24 hours, after 48 hours, etc.). It should be appreciated thatvarious rules, based on the absences of use of the consumer's paymentaccount, may be used to secure the payment account when not used in aregion, in which it is located.

As an example, in the system 100, the consumer 112 may travel from homeregion A to region C. The communication device 114 then transmits alocation indicator to the engine 116, which, in turn, appends thepayment account for the consumer 112 to the segment associated withregion C. If no transactions are attempted by the consumer 112 in regionC (at merchant 102 b, for example) using the payment account, within apredefined interval, the engine 116 removes the consumer's paymentaccount from the segment associated with region C.

As further shown in FIG. 3, the engine 116 optionally (as indicated bythe dashed lines) may determine, at 324, if a transaction parameterrelated to the consumer's payment account satisfies a predefinedthreshold. The transaction parameter may include any desired parametersuch as, for example, total spend using the payment account, totaltransactions made using the payment account, etc. It should beappreciated that a variety of different transaction parameters may beprovided to the engine 116, in order to append payment accounts into avariety of different segments. The engine 116 determines whether or notthe transaction parameter is satisfied by accessing transactions data at326 for the consumer's payment account, stored in memory 204, forexample.

In response to satisfying the threshold, the engine 116 appends, at 304,the payment account to an appropriate segment, for example, indicativeof the transaction parameter which is satisfied. As described above, thepresence of the payment account in the segment may then cause at leastone rule for the payment account to be modified. Depending on thesegment, the rule may relate to limits on the number of transactions,the limits applied to individual transactions, limits to total spendusing the payment account, etc. Further one or more rules may bemodified to cause different marketing materials to be directed to theconsumer 112, etc. As also described above, in some embodiments, thepresence of the payment account in the segment does not immediatelycause the at least one rule for the payment account to be modified.Instead, the at least one rule is only modified when one or morepredefined criteria relating to the payment account, the consumer, thesegment, etc. are satisfied.

Conversely, the engine 116 also removes the payment account from therespective segment when the payment account fails to satisfy thepredefined threshold in subsequent intervals (i.e., when the consumerdoes not maintain a spend total above the threshold, or does notmaintain a total number of transactions above the threshold). Theremoval of the payment account from the segment, by the engine 116, maybe subject to certain conditions including, for example, a 30-daywaiting period to remove the payment account, etc. In variousembodiments, because rule modifications related to segments associatedwith transaction parameters are less indicative of fraud than thosebased on location indicators, a payment account may be permitted tolinger in a segment, when appended based on operation 324, as comparedto payment account appended based on operation 302.

In one example, the consumer 112 accumulates spending to the paymentaccount during a defined interval (e.g., 15 days, 30 days, 60 days, alast 30 days, etc.). The engine 116 may then determine if the consumer'stotal spend during the defined interval, for the payment account,exceeds a predefine threshold such as, for example, $2,000, $4,000,$10,000, or some other predefined threshold. In response to satisfyingthe threshold, the engine 116 may then append the consumer's paymentaccount to a “high spender” segment. In another example, the engine 116may determine if a total number of transactions made using the paymentaccount, within a defined interval (e.g., 15 days, 30 days, 60 days, alast 30 days, etc.), exceeds a predefined threshold such as, forexample, 25 transactions, 50 transactions, 100 transactions, etc. Inresponse to satisfying the threshold, the engine 116 may append theconsumer's payment account to a “frequent transactor” segment.

It should also be appreciated that one or more aspects of the presentdisclosure transform a general-purpose computing device into aspecial-purpose computing device when configured to perform thefunctions, methods, and/or processes described herein.

As will be appreciated based on the foregoing specification, theabove-described embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented usingcomputer programming or engineering techniques including computersoftware, firmware, hardware or any combination or subset thereof,wherein the technical effect may be achieved by performing at least oneof the following operations: (a) receiving a first indicator for a firstlocation from a communication device, the communication deviceassociated with a consumer, and the consumer associated with a paymentaccount issued to the consumer by an issuer; (b) appending, by acomputing device, the payment account to a first segment based on thefirst location indicator; and (c) causing at least one rule associatedwith the payment account to be modified, the at least one rule relatingto authorization of transactions in a first region including the firstlocation.

With that said, exemplary embodiments are provided so that thisdisclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to thosewho are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth suchas examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide athorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It willbe apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need notbe employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many differentforms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of thedisclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes,well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are notdescribed in detail.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexemplary embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As usedherein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and“having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, butdo not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groupsthereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described hereinare not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance inthe particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specificallyidentified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood thatadditional or alternative steps may be employed.

When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “connected to,”“in communication with,” or “coupled to” another element, it may bedirectly on, connected or coupled to, or in communication with the otherelement, or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when anelement is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to,”“directly in communication with,” or “directly coupled to” anotherelement, there may be no intervening elements present. As used herein,the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more ofthe associated listed items.

Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein todescribe various features, these features should not be limited by theseterms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one feature fromanother. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms whenused herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated bythe context. Thus, a first feature could be termed a second featurewithout departing from the teachings of the exemplary embodiments.

The foregoing description of exemplary embodiments has been provided forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or featuresof a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particularembodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be usedin a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described.The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to beregarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modificationsare intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for use inidentifying a payment account to a segment, the method comprising:receiving a first indicator for a first location from a communicationdevice, the communication device associated with a consumer, and theconsumer associated with a payment account issued to the consumer by anissuer; appending, by a computing device, the payment account to a firstsegment based on the first location indicator; and causing at least onerule associated with the payment account to be modified, the at leastone rule relating to authorization of transactions in a first regionincluding the first location.
 2. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, further comprising receiving a second indicator for a secondlocation of the communication device; appending, by the computingdevice, the payment account to a second segment based on the secondlocation indicator; and modifying at least one rule associated withpayment account and related to authorization of transactions in a secondregion including the second location.
 3. The computer-implemented methodof claim 2, further comprising, after appending the payment account tothe second segment, removing the payment account from the segment aftera predefined interval, in which no indicator for a location within thesecond region is received from the communication device.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising receiving athird indicator for a third location of the communication device;removing the payment account from the segment, after receiving the thirdlocation indicator; and appending, by the computing device, the paymentaccount to a third segment, associated with a third region, based on thethird location indicator.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,further comprising receiving a third indicator for a third location ofthe communication device; removing the payment account from the secondsegment, but not from the segment, after receiving the third locationindicator; and appending, by the computing device, the payment accountto a third segment based on the third location indicator.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the payment account isassociated with a default segment; and wherein the method furthercomprising, after a predefined interval, in which no indicator for alocation within the region is received from the communication device,removing the payment account from the segment and appending the paymentaccount to the default segment.
 7. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one rule relates to a parameter associatedwith offline and/or online transactions, by the payment account.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising notifying theissuer when no transaction is directed to the payment account within apredetermined interval of receiving the indicator.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising transmittinga notification to the issuer, when the payment account is appended tothe segment.
 10. One or more non-transitory computer readable storagemedia having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon foridentifying payment accounts to segments based on locations, whereinwhen executed by a processor, the computer-executable instructions causethe processor to: receive an indicator for a location from acommunication device, the communication device associated with aconsumer and a payment account associated with the consumer, the paymentaccount issued by an issuer; append the payment account to a segmentbased on the location indicator; and cause at least one rule associatedwith payment account to be modified, the at least one rule relating toauthorization of transactions in a region including the location. 11.The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim10, wherein when executed by the processor, the computer-executableinstructions further cause the processor to remove the payment accountfrom at least one prior segment, when a number of segments including thepayment account exceeds a predetermined threshold.
 12. The one or morenon-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 10, wherein whenexecuted by the processor, the computer-executable instructions furthercause the processor to remove the payment account from at least oneprior segment, when a number of segments including the payment accountexceeds a predetermined threshold.
 13. The one or more non-transitorycomputer readable storage media of claim 10, wherein the region is acountry, and wherein the at least one rules includes a restriction on anumber of off-line transaction between on-line transactions.
 14. The oneor more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 10,wherein when executed by the processor, the computer-executableinstructions further cause the processor to: initiate a definedinterval, after appending the payment account to the segment; and removethe payment account from the segment, when the defined interval expireswithout a transaction to the payment account within region.
 15. The oneor more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 10,wherein when executed by the processor, the computer-executableinstructions further cause the processor to: initiate a definedinterval, after appending the payment account to the segment; and removethe payment account from the segment, when the defined interval expireswithout another location indicator from a location within the region.16. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media ofclaim 10, wherein when executed by the processor, thecomputer-executable instructions cause the processor to remove thepayment account from at least one prior segment, other than a defaultsegment, when a number of segments including the payment account exceedsa predetermined threshold.
 17. The one or more non-transitory computerreadable storage media of claim 10, wherein when executed by theprocessor, the computer-executable instructions cause the processor tonotify the issuer regarding the payment account being appended to thesegment.
 18. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storagemedia of claim 10, wherein when executed by the processor, thecomputer-executable instructions further cause the processor todetermine when at least one transactions parameter associated with apayment account, within a defined interval, exceeds a predefinedthreshold, the at least one transactions parameter including a number oftotal transactions for the payment account and/or a total spend for thepayment account append, by a computing device, the payment account to asegment based on the transaction parameter exceeding the predefinedthreshold; and cause at least one rule associated with payment accountto be modified.
 19. A computer-implemented method for use in identifyinga payment account to a segment, the method comprising: determining, by acomputing device, when at least one transactions parameter to a paymentaccount satisfies a predefined threshold, and appending, by a computingdevice, the payment account to a segment based on the at least onetransactions parameter satisfies the predefined threshold; and causingat least one rule associated with payment account to be modified. 20.The computer-implemented method of claim 19, further comprising removingthe payment account from the segment when the transaction parameter nolonger satisfies the predefined threshold; and transmitting, by thecomputing device, a notification to an issuer associated with thepayment account indicating that the payment account has been appended tothe segment; wherein determining when the transactions to a paymentaccount exceeds the predefined threshold includes determining when anumber of total transactions for the payment account satisfies thepredefined threshold and/or determining when a total spend for thepayment account satisfies the predefined threshold.
 21. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein causing at least onerule associated with the payment account to be modified includes causingthe at least one rule to be modified when at least one predefinedcriteria is satisfied.